The alternative food market has attracted much attention due to concerns about climate change, increasing consumer awareness of value consumption, and the development of the Food-Tech industry. This study aimed to analyze the factors that drive consumers to purchase alternative food products and identify the mechanisms that can induce consumers to continue buying. We surveyed 1,200 consumers and estimated data using a logit model. The results showed that the presence of vegetarians in the household, environmental concerns, a vegetable-oriented diet, and a mixed diet of meat and vegetables were positively associated with purchasing plant-based alternatives. Of particular interest was the non-linear relationship between respondents’ age and their purchasing experience with plant-based options, with the likelihood of purchasing alternatives increasing with age from the mid-50s onward. These findings suggest that in addition to the growing number of consumers who share the environmental value, which leads to increased interest in and purchase of plant-based alternatives, alternative foods are also health-oriented and meet the needs of older consumers, who are becoming an increasingly important segment of the super-aged society, suggesting the potential for continued growth in the alternative food market.

The deployment of drones for targeted killings in recent years has sparked intense debates regarding the ethical and legal implications of their deployment in contemporary conflicts. Through an examination of the complexities surrounding the application of fundamental international humanitarian law (IHL) principles - such as differentiating targets and ensuring a proportionate response – and their deployment, the article aims to illuminate the potential legal ramifications of using drones in targeted killing. It also highlights challenges arising from the ambiguous distinction between combatants and non-combatants, compounded by the remote nature of drone missions. The inclusion of a few relevant case studies enhances the analysis, providing practical insights into the nuanced legal landscape and emphasising the pressing need for a comprehensive legal framework tailored to regulate drone usage. This paper stresses the immediate requirement for an effective regulatory structure to ensure adherence to IHL, thereby upholding humanistic principles and reducing the human toll of conflicts.

PURPOSES : The objective of this study was to review roadway management strategies that can be utilized in the event of a radiological emergency, select feasible alternatives, and simulate a portion of the West Coast network to analyze the effectiveness of these strategies. METHODS : The methodology of the study involved reviewing the relevant literature, extracting the implications, establishing an analysis procedure, and selecting an effectiveness evaluation scale. Using a national transportation database, a network was constructed using Toba, a macroscopic model. RESULTS : A reverse-flow lane system was applied to the West Coast Expressway Glory IC–Hampyeong IC (total 25 km), and a plan to increase the number of lanes was applied to the Seokgyo Street–Shinpyeong Intersection on National Route 23 (total extension 28 km). Consequently, both road management strategies were found to be effective. CONCLUSIONS : This study examined roadway management strategies that can be utilized in the event of a radiological emergency, selected feasible alternatives, and simulated a portion of the West Coast network to verify the effectiveness of these strategies. In the case of reverse flow lanes, it is most effective when applied to expressways that can restrict the entrance and exit of vehicles. In the case of increasing the number of lanes, it is most effective when applied to general roads, and institutional arrangements should be made to enable two-way traffic to use the reserved shoulder lanes.

Background: Children with cerebral palsy face challenges in maintaining body stability because of structural and functional defects. Their ability for responsive balance control is diminished. While there exist various trunk stabilization exercises such as Kinetic Link training (KLT) and the Bird-dog posture, there is a notable dearth of research that applies KLT specifically to children with cerebral palsy. Objectives: To investigate the effects of KLT and Bird-dog exercise on gross motor function and balance in children with cerebral palsy. Design: Quaxi-experimental study. Methods: The study participants were randomly divided into two groups: 15 individuals in the KLT group and 15 in the Bird-dog group. General characteristics were examined, and initial measurements of Gross motor function measure (GMFM) and Pediatric balance scale (PBS) were taken prior to the intervention. Each group engaged in KLT exercises and Bird-dog exercises for 20 minutes, three times a week over an 8 week period. Following the completion of the 8 week intervention, secondary measurements of GMFM and PBS were conducted. Results: In the KLT group, both PBS and GMFM showed a significant increase after the intervention compared to before (P<.05). Similarly, in the Bird-dog group, both PBS and GMFM significantly increased after the intervention compared to before (P<.05). There was a significant difference observed in PBS when comparing the pre- and post-intervention changes between the two groups (P<.05), whereas no significant difference was found in GMFM between the groups when comparing the pre- and post-intervention changes (P>.05). Conclusion: The interventions involving KLT and Bird-dog exercises were observed to effectively enhance PBS and GMFM in children with cerebral palsy. Specifically, it was evident that KLT was more beneficial in improving balance abilities compared to Bird-dog exercise.

본 연구는 우리나라 대형산불의 진화에 있어 임도(산림도로)의 역할을 검증하고자 하였다. 연구대상지는 그간 발생한 대형산불 중 도로밀도가 가장 높은 지역 중 하나인 강원특별자치도 강릉시에서 발생한 2023년 4월 산불피해지역을 대상으로 하였다. 산불피해지역 범위는 현장확인하였으며, 산불의 피해강도는 Sentinel-2 영상을 통해 분석하였다. 이후, 피해범위 및 강도와 산림도로의 관계를 살펴보았다. 전체 149.1ha의 산불피해지역에 쉽게 접근할 수 있는, 피해지역 경계로부터 50m 이내에 조성된 도로는 약 59.6km로, 인접지역을 포함한 산불피해지역의 도로밀도는 무려 168.9m/ha에 달했다. 도로에 의해 단절된 산림은 모두 83개소로 파편화되어 있었는데, 이들 산림은 모두 비산화에 의한 확산으로 판단할 수 있어, 도로가 산불의 차단선 역할을 하지 못했음이 확인되었다. 진화차량 접근의 용이성에 따른 피해정도를 살펴보기 위해 도로로부터의 거리별 피해강도 분포를 살펴본 결과, 낮은 강도의 피해를 입은 지역은 오히려 도로에서 75m이상 떨어진 곳에서 비율이 대폭 높아짐이 확인되었다. 진화인력의 접근 용이성에 따른 피해정도를 살펴보기 위해 해발고별 피해강도 분포를 살펴본 결과 약한 강도의 피해를 입은지역 비율은 해발고가 높아질수록 늘어난 반면, 강한 강도 이상의 피해지역은 반대로 해발고가 높아질수록 비율이 줄어들었다. 강릉시 난곡동 산불피해지역에서 산림내부 혹은 인접한 도로가 산불진화에 효과적이라는 데이터는 없는 것으로 확인되었다. 이상의 결과는 산림 내 임도밀도를 높이는 것이 산불진화에 효과적이라는 논리와 배치된다. 강릉시 난곡산불지역의 경우 현재 산림청이 주장하는 우리나라 임도밀도인 3.9m/ha에 비해 무려 43배나 높다.

Background: Proprioception in the ankle joint is important for maintaining balance. There is a correlation between joint position sense (JPS), balance and ankle dorsiflexion range of motion (DF-ROM). Objectives: The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of talocrural joint mobilization (TJM) and muscle energy technique (MET) of plantar flexor muscle (PF) on improving joint position sense (JPS) and static balance. Design: Cross-over randomized trial research. Methods: Sixteen participants (male 10, female 6; 20’s of their age) without ankle instability were recruited. In a randomized, three conditions, no intervention, talocalcaneal mobilization, and PF-MET were all applied to 16 participants. For TJM, the Kaltenborn grade 3 joint gliding method, in which the talus moves posteriorly perpendicular to the tacrocrural joint plane, were used. In the PF-MET, MET method were applied gastrocnemius muscle and soleus muscle with 25% of 1 Repeat Maximum of each muscle. The all participants performed PF-MET and TJM for 18 minutes. DF-ROM measured the weightbearing lunge test. JPS measured using the active joint angle reproduction test. Static balance was measured displacement of center of pressure parameter. Results: PF-MET and TJM had significant differences in DF-ROM and AP displacements. PF-MET significantly increased at 5° and 15° of plantar flexion and 5° of dorsiflexion, and COP velocity significantly decreased in JPS compared to TJM. Conclusion: PF-MET and TJM are effective in increasing DF-ROM. However, PF-MET has a more positive effect on improving JPS and static balance than on talocrural joint mobilization.

Environmental concern has escalated as the climate crisis is an increasingly prevalent issue for the global society. Further catalysed by the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, consumer behaviours are shifting, materialising in greener purchasing behaviour and heightened expectations of environmental brand practices. This phenomenon is affecting consumer attitudes and behaviour towards fashion brands. As such, credible environmental marketing strategies are increasingly central to brand success, influencing brand credibility perception.

Consumers sometimes see brands as relationship partners and expect that they conform to certain expectations, or relational norms. However, there is no valid and universal operationalization of these norms for the specific context of consumer-brand relationships. We address this gap by developing and validating a new scale in four studies.

Mental distress has been consistently reported to be highly prevalent after collective traumas, alongside physical and personal damages. When left untreated, these will worsen survivors’ ability to function. Research also points to unmet needs, related to job security and a sense of belonging. Our study aims to identify a clustered-dimensional approach to people’s experiences after a massive urban violence apart from traditional categorical psychopathological assessments. This cross-sectional internet-based study included 1305 Lebanese adults, 4 months after the apocalyptic Beirut Port explosion. Emotions, attitudes and needs were assessed using iCode software, measuring explicit answers and implicit reaction time. First and foremost, explicit responses revealed alarming levels of distress (75-80%). Latent class analysis further differentiated three groups on seven different dimensions derived from principal component analysis. People who experienced the most intense emotional distress and intrusive thoughts had higher country dissatisfaction and job worries. Faith and community resilience buffered the negative emotionality of those affected in spite of avoidance and intrusion. The last group was less distressed by the trauma with a marked sense of community and an overall reduced country and job dissatisfactions. These findings suggest that integrating implicit responses helps cluster people’s experiences after a collective trauma above and beyond single demographic criteria as vulnerability to mass violence is quite variable within seemingly homogenous samples. They also provide insight onto hard-wired attitudes and needs post-trauma. It mostly taps into multi-factorial individual vulnerabilities and protective factors to better refine targeted interventions for at-risk subpopulation outreach and foster resilience in unstable environments.

With the raise of artificial intelligence (AI), a new form of influencers has entered the proposition of marketing strategies for brands. Virtual influencers (VI’s) have shown their potential for brands in general, fashion lifestyle, or fashion luxury, even being more impactful in specific aspects than traditional influencers. Zooming in on sports, the VI space has been discovered by some brands already, yet for lifestyle sports products only. The performance sports products environment is still untouched. This study aims to identify the potential goals to be achieved for sports brands creating human-like virtual influencers to implement in their performance range of products strategy.

Brand resonance plays a crucial role in customer relationship management and the development of brand equity between customers and the brand. Therefore, effective methods for promoting customers’ brand resonance are critical in the hospitality industry for gaining competitive advantages and establishing sustainable management strategies. The purpose of this research was to investigate the relationships among brand coolness, customer inspiration, and brand resonance in the hospitality industry, as well as the mediating influence of customer inspiration. A total of 451 customers from 25 well-known brand restaurants in Taiwan returned questionnaires. These restaurants are recommended by TripAdvisor and had elements of coolness indicated in the customer reviews. Among the 451 participants, 260 (57.6%) were female and 191 (42.4%) were male; 344 (76.3%) were unmarried; 279 (61.9%) had received a college-degree certificate or above; and most were 21 to 30 years old (36.6%). The results revealed that brand coolness positively affected customer inspiration and brand resonance and that customer inspiration positively affected brand resonance. Furthermore, customer inspiration mediated the relationship between brand coolness and brand resonance. The study contributes to the hospitality literature of brand resonance. These findings can apply for the practice of brand management and customer relationship management in the hospitality industry.

Last-mile delivery is the quintessential example of a logistics sector that is ripe for innovation, owing to a powerful confluence in the advancement of technologies and consumption models. Compared to the conventional delivery mode, the delivery robot offers countless advantages, including maintaining social distancing, improving health safety, protecting the environment, and reducing shipping costs and delivery times. Considering the high investments associated with developing and introducing delivery robots, a better understanding is needed of the consumers’ perceptions and willingness to guide practitioners on whether it is worth starting/continuing investing in such innovation. For this reason, this study addresses the following research questions: 1) What are the relevant characteristics of robot delivery and how do consumers cognitively and affectively respond to these characteristics? 2) What are the processes that form consumers’ willingness to reuse the delivery robot and spread the word about it (i.e., WOM)? Drawing on the technology-task fit model, the present study provides three interesting theoretical insights in relation to the post-adoption behaviour on delivery robots. In the first part, the findings enrich the literature by revealing that consumers’ evaluation of the perceived fit of using delivery robots are based on a combination of internal, external and conditional factors. This study found that hedonic motivations, perceived anthropomorphism and robotic service quality exhibited a positive influence on perceived task-technology fit. This indicates that, being able to experience a sense of fun or enjoyment when using novel technologies (e.g., robot services) will encourage future behaviour and push individuals to continue exploring the benefits of this innovation. Also, consumers tend to attribute the human-like robots as more capable and reliable as it gives the feeling that they are interacting with a social entity. The findings also value to current scarcity research and demonstrate the positive influence of service quality in matching the performance and functionality of delivery robots. In the second part, the empirical findings confirm the positive influence of perceived task-technology fit on trust and value-in-use in the emerging context of delivery robots. In the last part, this research goes further, revealing the indirect link between perceived task-technology fit and post-adoption behaviour. In line with consumer behaviour literature that suggests the individual will undergo a psychological state (or mental evaluation) in goal-oriented behavior, this research deepens our understanding of the mechanisms involved in this relationship. It reveals that trust and value-in-use acted as the missing links in bridging the associations through which perceived task-technology fit influences service reuse likelihood and positive word-of-mouth.

Water electrolysis holds great potential as a method for producing renewable hydrogen fuel at large-scale, and to replace the fossil fuels responsible for greenhouse gases emissions and global climate change. To reduce the cost of hydrogen and make it competitive against fossil fuels, the efficiency of green hydrogen production should be maximized. This requires superior electrocatalysts to reduce the reaction energy barriers. The development of catalytic materials has mostly relied on empirical, trial-and-error methods because of the complicated, multidimensional, and dynamic nature of catalysis, requiring significant time and effort to find optimized multicomponent catalysts under a variety of reaction conditions. The ultimate goal for all researchers in the materials science and engineering field is the rational and efficient design of materials with desired performance. Discovering and understanding new catalysts with desired properties is at the heart of materials science research. This process can benefit from machine learning (ML), given the complex nature of catalytic reactions and vast range of candidate materials. This review summarizes recent achievements in catalysts discovery for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER). The basic concepts of ML algorithms and practical guides for materials scientists are also demonstrated. The challenges and strategies of applying ML are discussed, which should be collaboratively addressed by materials scientists and ML communities. The ultimate integration of ML in catalyst development is expected to accelerate the design, discovery, optimization, and interpretation of superior electrocatalysts, to realize a carbon-free ecosystem based on green hydrogen.

In this paper, a study was conducted on the analysis of communication circuit faults using oscilloscope waveform analysis. Circuit resistance was calculated based on voltage and operating current values using a simple equation, and it was confirmed that the increase in resistance of the communication circuit could be analyzed by analyzing the voltage level during transmitter operation. By combining information of the controller ID, the location of the fault was identified and it was concluded that the location of the fault can be quickly found by analyzing the oscilloscope waveform and the controller ID information. Additionally, the value of communication line contact resistance can be calculated using a simple equation, and the location of the fault can be found by analyzing the communication voltage level and ID information.